Editorial: Microbiota-immune interactions: a new frontier in cancer treatment optimization

Microbiome research has expanded rapidly over the past decade, substantially advancing our understanding of how microbial communities contribute to different diseases, including cancer. Perturbations of specific microbial communities, referred to as dysbiosis, can induce profound metabolic reprogramming and immune dysregulation within the host. These microbiota-driven alterations influence numerous immunological pathways, altering how innate and adaptive immune cells function and potently reshaping localized and systemic immune responses. Despite recent advances, the precise mechanistic pathways through which microbiota-immune interactions lead to tumor development and progression, along with the impact of anti-tumor therapeutic response on tumor control, remain largely undefined. There also remains a major challenge in translating microbiota research into routine clinical practice. The high inter-individual variability of microbial ecosystems, influenced by genetics, diet, environment, and prior therapies, complicates the identification of universally applicable microbial signatures, necessitating longitudinal studies and mechanistic validation in well-defined preclinical models. Standardization of microbiome profiling methods, analytical pipelines, and interventional strategies is also urgently required to ensure reproducibility and clinical translatability across studies.